The six day 2015 Samsung Advanced Training, during which 39 volunteers from 10 countries gained new skills in facilitating peace building programmes in their communities, ended with the annual Awards Dinner on 25 November at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Amman, Jordan.

HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein, Founder and Chairman of Generations For Peace, and Fadi Awni Abu Shamat, Corporate Marketing Director for Samsung Levant, handed out four awards to recognise volunteers in the areas of Innovation, Quality, Impact, and Sustainability. These four categories are also the key drivers of change for Generations For Peace.

The Samsung Generations For Peace Award for Innovation is given to a programme that demonstrates innovative and creative ways to plan and implement their programmes. It is also awarded for leveraging local community resources, for thinking out of the box, and being adaptive in addressing issues of scarce resources and risks that come up during programme implementation.

The winners of the 2015 Innovation Award were volunteers from Kyrgyzstan for the Batken Generations For Peace Isfana Art for Peace programme, which aims to improve relationships and build trust between Kyrgyz and Uzbek students, in a region of the country where there have been high ethnic tensions.

The volunteers used innovative tools that helped participants appreciate the culture and traditions of different ethnicities in new ways, including forum theatre, acting and photography classes, boys activities in support of girls on International Womens Day and a festival of friendship.

Representatives from the district education department and directors of the targeted schools asked that these activities be scaled up to a district level.

The Samsung Generations For Peace Award for Quality is given to a programme that demonstrates attention to detail as well as monitoring of activities with regular reports, observations and suggested approaches to tackling issues that arise in programme implementation.

It was awarded for showing specific attention to activities design and consultation before, during and after programme implementation, and for submitting programme monitoring and evaluation data within agreed timelines.

The winners of the 2015 Quality Award were volunteers from the Republic of Macedonia for a Sport for Peace Programme for Children in Tetovo. This programme helps build trust between Albanian and Macedonian children; providing a space for interaction and opportunities to develop friendships. Volunteers built credibility by forming a diverse team with volunteers from both ethnicities.

The team went beyond the recommended monitoring procedures and have shown great commitment, attention to detail and consistency in their reporting.

The Samsung Generations For Peace Award for Impact is given to a programme that demonstrates an ability to positively affect the beneficiary community, stakeholders and other members of the wider community. It is also awarded for successful local media coverage and local awareness of programme, and for quantitative and qualitative reach of programmes.

The winners of the 2015 Impact Award were volunteers from Ghana for the Catch Them Young Accra Programme. This Sport For Peace Programme for Children targeted 40 school students to address issues of bullying and poor communication between students of different ages and social classes.

In implementing the programme, volunteers got members of the beneficiary community and stakeholders involved. This approach enabled the wider community to learn about the programme, and start to benefit from the programme activities. In addition, the programme received wide coverage with features in the local media.

The Samsung Generations For Peace Award for Sustainability is given to a programme that demonstrates and implements a long term projection plan, shows clear strategic planning and engagement of stakeholders, and has a high level of community ownership of the programme with tangible evidence.

The winners of the 2015 Sustainability Award were volunteers from Palestine for the Tulkarem Violence in Schools Programme. The programme focused on violence in schools between students from different refugee and host communities.

The volunteers' success led the Ministry of Education to request the replication of the Tulkarem programme in Jenin. Today, more than 130 female and male students from five schools have benefited from the carefully facilitated sport-based activities to reduce violence.

We congratulate this year's award winners, as well as the ongoing dedication of all 39 Generations For Peace volunteers who attended the 2015 Advanced Training, and the nearly 9000 volunteers who have been trained to implement peace building programmes in their communities around the world.

At the Awards Dinner, HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein also presented certificates in recognition of Samsung Levant, supporter of our work since 2008; the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which supports of GFP's work throughout the MENA region; as well as institutional partner Jordan Olympic Committee, telecommunications partner Orange, logistics partner DHL, and beverage sponsor Coca Cola Jordan.